Second Anniversary in Yosemite

Similar to our mini first anniversary trip last summer to Steamboat Springs, we had just a few days between our summer jobs in Southern California and needing to get back to Provo for school. Earlier in 2016, we decided that we would take turns planning our anniversary celebrations so that we could each have the chance to surprise the other. This year was Dustan's turn. We were headed to Yosemite National Park!

We finished up our jobs on Thursday the 18th of August. By that night, the car was all packed and ready to go. We woke up early on Friday morning to drive to Yosemite, about five hours away from El Segundo. We threw on Jim Dale's narration of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (we had already listened through the first six books) and we were off!

Day 1

That first day on Friday, we just drove straight into the park, arriving in the early afternoon. Our first stop was at Tunnel View. Holy amazing!! You are driving through the park when you enter a tunnel. The traffic is slow. When you leave the tunnel, you are at first blinded by the bright (and very hot) sun, then you see the views. Beautiful! The road just opens up to Yosemite Valley, surrounded by the famous rock formations El Capitan and the Three Brothers. It was definitely an impressive first look.

El Capitan on the left, Three Brothers on the right

Our next stop was what everyone's first stop should be at new place. The Visitors Center! We got some hiking recommendations and figured out which famous waterfalls had already dried up from the hot summer.

After getting the information we needed and getting hopelessly lost in the urban area of Yosemite, we drove a shorter distance to hike/walk to Mirror Lake. This short trip gave us some stellar views again of the sheer rock walls that make Yosemite so famous. Unfortunately, the "lake" at the end of the hike wasn't much of a lake at the end of the summer. More of a pond.

A cairn field!

We'd done such a short little walk on Friday because we needed to get back to our accommodations in time for check-in. We couldn't help ourselves when we were driving out of the park to stop by this awesome river running alongside the road though (Dustan really wanted to try out a new neutral density filter we got for the camera which basically makes it so that you can take very long exposures without making the picture too bright).

After a few pictures, we continued the long drive to Chowchilla, CA with our farmhouse airbnb. Chowchilla was unfortunately about an hour and a half outside of the park, but it was worth the cost. Most hotels inside the Sierra National Forest even close to the Park are hundreds a night. Driving a few extra hours each day was worth staying in a room that was only $35 a night on a cute farm. Even if it was in the middle of nowhere, haha.

As soon as we got settled in our little room above the garage, we went out to dinner at Farnesi's Steakhouse while we waited for the weather to cool down enough to sleep (it was over 100 degrees that afternoon in Chowchilla). That night, we went to bed to the wonderful sound of goats and dogs.

Day 2

Saturday was going to be a little more strenuous than Friday's little jaunt. We made sure to get our eight hours of sleep before packing our hiking gear and making the drive. Our typical hiking gear included: lots of water, a couple granola bars for me, some homemade granola balls for Dustan (since he hates store bought), a handful of Redvines, a few hard boiled eggs, camera, tripod, neutral density filter, GoPro with a few attachments, a phone, ID, sunscreen, sunglasses, and chapstick. Then we're all set :)

We parked our car at one of the biggest lots in Yosemite Valley and took the free shuttle to the base of our hike. We would be hiking the Four Mile Trail up to Glacier Point. You can drive about an hour up to Glacier Point, but that obviously takes out all the awesome views and getting some exercise. The trail was just over four miles to the point (as you could probably guess from the name), and it was ALL uphill switchbacks. We started the hike close to noon with the sun blazing, so we were sweating in no time.

But the views were just amazing. With each new turn, we could see Yosemite Valley in all its glory. And it just got better and better as we ascended. But let me tell you, going from no exercise during the summer other than laying on the beach to this hike was not the easiest, haha.

Hottie Husband feat. Half Dome

We made it to the top in about four hours with lots of stops to take pictures. We were a little disappointed with how many tourists had driven up to Glacier Peak compared to how few people had been hiking. Cheaters! But it was still great. We spent a few minutes just soaking it in while eating a small lunch/snack, wishing we had brought money for the ice cream in the shop found on top. Then it was picture time! We weren't about to let carrying all our camera gear up the mountain to go to waste.

Half Dome on the right

We decided to be rebellious and ignore the "DO NOT ENTER" sign and take a picture on the awesome pride rock. It was worth it, and we didn't even get in trouble with the rangers!

After getting our fill of leg resting and pictures, we had an important decision to make: would we take Four Mile Trail back down the mountain, or the longer 8 mile Panoramic Trail? After gauging how our (mostly my) legs felt and realizing how close we were to sunset, we decided to just take Four Mile back down. And we're so glad we did! The views of Yosemite Valley as the sun was setting were gorgeous. This trail was also partially paved, which made getting down fast.

We made a quick stop at the Village Store to buy some over priced sandwiches for dinner before heading back to Tunnel View to watch and capture the stars as they came out. Living so close to LA, we barely saw any stars this summer. Yosemite had amazing views of the whole Milky Way, which we attempted to take pictures of with some success. As soon as the moon began coming out and overshadowing the stars, we again made the drive back to Chowchilla.

Day 3

Sunday rest day! We went to the Chowchilla ward in the morning. One of the nicest and most welcoming wards ever! But with some interesting opinions (ie: Bernie Sanders is a communist, Hitler isn't taught in schools anymore, etc. haha). After church, we just relaxed around the farmhouse, chatted with our hosts, and looked through our pictures from the previous days.

Dustan had originally planned to have us go into Yosemite to do some chill sight seeing on Sunday, but with commute time it wasn't quite worth it to be in the park only for a couple hours. And besides, our legs needed the rest for what was planned for at last day.

So when 5:30 pm hit, we ate dinner, packed up the car, and went to bed. Yes, that early. Because the next morning, we would be waking up at 2:30 am to hike Half Dome!

Day 4

The most difficult hike in Yosemite National Park, Half Dome is 14 to 17 miles roundtrip (depending on which trails you take) with 4,800 feet of elevation gain. Fun fact, it has also been on a myriad of different lists as one of the most dangerous hikes in the States/world. So that's pretty cool. Though you can do a majority of the hike without it, you need a lottery obtained permit to climb to the peak. This peak, at 8,842 feet, can't be reached without the help of a couple cables that are strung up the last 400 feet of the sheet granite mountain.

So, we woke up at 2:30 am to do this hike. Just two days after doing the second most difficult hike in the park, Four Mile Trail to Glacier Point. But we had applied for the permit to hike on Saturday and didn't get it. We applied again for Monday, and we got the permit! So we had to, really.

After waking up so early, we quickly finished packing up the car and drove the hour and a half to Yosemite. There is no parking at the base of the trail and the shuttle didn't run so early, so we walked from our car the extra half a mile to the trailhead. We began the hike at about 5:45 am, going up the Mist Trail on the way to Half Dome (rather than the John Muir Trail, which is longer but less strenuous).

The first couple miles of the hike were absolutely gorgeous. It was light enough within the first 30 minutes to no longer use our head lamps. Thank goodness, because there were some great waterfalls that give the Mist Trail its name. Apparently in the spring, these waterfalls are so strong from mountain runoff that they completely soak the hikers. Because we went so late in the season, we just had a nice cool breeze.

The first waterfall we came across was Vernal Falls, just as it was starting to get light outside. The steep trail stairs went up right alongside the waterfall. It wound around so that we were hiking atop the waterfall itself.

Tiny little Dustan!

After another mile or so of steep stairs and rocky trails, we reached Nevada Falls. This waterfall was a bit farther away from the trail and not quite impressive, but still a good reason to take a break for pictures. Soon after, this trail hooked up with the longer John Muir Trail to continue up to Half Dome. If you don't obtain a permit to summit Half Dome, there is no reason to continue farther than this point--the trail until you near the peak was just long and fairly boring. Eventually, a ranger would stop you to check for permits before you could reach any spectacular views anyway.

As I said, the middle miles (like miles three to six) were rather uneventful. We were winding through the canyons of dead trees. But eventually, we were able to crest the Sub Dome and start getting some stellar views! From there, it was steep switchbacks/stairs before we finally reached the base of the Half Dome.

Standing at the base of Half Dome was just a little daunting. It was way more steep than it looked in pictures! There were two thick wire cables that were strung up the sheer granite. Each place the cables were pegged in was a two by four to give climbers some grip (we didn't realize how vital these were until we started). At the behest of hikers coming down, we grabbed a pair of thick gloves from a pile at the bottom of the cables that were left for people like us who didn't bring any. Then we began climbing!

At first, climbing up Half Dome was more comparable to some steep hiking. The cables were helpful but not really necessary. But as soon as we were about a third of the way up our 400 foot climb, the cables and two by fours were completely needed. We were nearly vertical at some points, relying a lot on our arm strength to tug ourselves up the mountain. I thought I was exhausted earlier, it was nothing compared to how I felt after climbing up this Dome.

Couldn't have done it without you, 2x4s!

Unfortunately, we didn't have much time to appreciate the view from Half Dome's summit--which was of course stunning. I felt like we could see the entirety of Yosemite (not true though). Though not  one of the tallest peaks in the Park, Half Dome was still quite high at 8,853 feet. But this also meant we were closer to the storm clouds that were brewing. And we did not want to be stuck on a granite rock when it hit! So we quickly veered off the the right from the cables where the best views were to be rumored--and that they were!

Again, tiny Dustan!

Thank you to a nice old man who had hiked Half Dome 42 times and offered to take our picture standing on the cliff--though I was a little concerned about it in his hands. I made Dustan take a few more pictures before we rushed off the mountain.

One plus about going down the cables when a storm looks like it's coming, there were a lot less people to try and pass! We slid down easy. Dustan opted to do down forward while I went backwards. Going down, we figured out why those gloves were necessary. Because the Dome was so steep, we simply slid down on our shoes most of the way. Even with gloves on, I burned a couple holes through them and got multiple blisters.

Once we got down from Half Dome and Sub Dome and were undercover of some trees, we finally paused to eat some lunch. Of course by then, the storm was almost completely gone, without even hitting us. Hiking back was fairly uneventful, especially in those middle boring miles. We decided to take the longer but less steep (our [my] legs were shot) John Muir Trail back down. This gave us a new angle on Nevada Falls that we hadn't gotten on the Mist Trail.

Half Dome is on the left! Nevada Falls on the right. Some other mountain smaller than Half Dome (really, I promise) in the middle.

Once we passed the Falls, my legs lost all will to move--and we still had a few miles to go! I don't think my legs have ever been so exhausted and my feet so pained than during the last miles of this hike. But...we made it! 16 miles in 13 hours (slightly more than our normal hiking average, but I claim exhaustion from hiking Four Mile Trail two days before).

And what did we do after that hike? Washed off the dirt, grime, and sweat in a Yosemite river, then drove nine hours (made into 11 hours with a short nap) through the night back to Provo! We definitely would not recommend skipping a nights sleep after hiking Half Dome. But that's just us ;)

And now we are back in Utah with the normal grind--school and homework. But thanks to the best husband for planning a this adventurous pre-anniversary trip :)